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The Irishman is the second Galaxy player to win the honor joining former LA midfielder Mike Magee, who earned the honor in March.

Keane was stellar during the month of August as he notched five goals and two assists in four MLS Regular Season matches, but also added two in the Galaxy’s CONCACAF Champions League victory over C.S. Cartaginés. Add it all up and that’s seven goals in five games over the month of August.

The forward will not take the field this weekend for LA’s match against the Colorado Rapids as he is currently away with Ireland on international duty as they prepare for World Cup qualifiers against Sweden and Austria.

The story discusses McBean’s rise from a kid, who would watch Manchester United with his father Calum to an 18-year-old, who is contending for minutes for the two-time defending MLS Cup Champions.

Galaxy Associate head coach Dave Sarachan admits that when LA first saw Jack, they knew that they had a player with the physical make-up to succeed; it was simply about filling in the rest.

“When we got Jack, we had the physical outline and the physical body type, but the internal, tactical, and the experience factor needed to continue to build upon each other through training and games,” said Sarachan. “Now we’re at this point, we have a much more complete player. Far from fully complete, but better in understanding the pace of MLS, connecting, and now it’s the final pass and the final shot that needs to count. We’ve seen a progression, now he needs 10 more percent to get himself at another level.”

Below is more from my talk with Jack McBean about his time growing up, his father, and a plethora of other topics. Check it out below…

(On growing up and soccer help from his father…)

MCBEAN: “He was always really supportive. He was my coach in AYSO but then once I got to the club level he kind of backed off a little bit from the coaching side. He was always intense but never in a negative way, he’d be yelling at all the guys on my team just encouraging them. They all love him and he still goes back to their games and does the same thing, so that’s pretty funny. “

(On when he knew professional soccer was what he wanted to do…)

MCBEAN: “Probably when I got to high school and had some interest from the national team and knew I was a pretty good player for my age and then the contract came up and it was a no brainer for me.”

(On his first soccer memories…)

MCBEAN: “The first thing I remember was playing AYSO on this all-star team and we made it all the way. But I mean I’ve been playing forever and the games always on at my house, always soccer on the weekends. So yeah, it’s in my blood I guess.”

(On being 18 and playing alongside players who are married with kids…)

MCBEAN: “It’s definitely weird if you really think about it but everyone’s got a different scenario that they’re in and there’s a bunch of young guys out here, a couple guys still live with their family too and there’s old guys who have kids who live with them so it’s kind of weird if you think about it but it’s cool. Everyone can play this game.”

(On his first goal before graduating high school, which he did earlier this year…)

MCBEAN: “Yeah that was a good game. We didn’t get a good result but our team was really good that year and had the supporters shield locked up so all the youngsters kind of got a chance and luckily I put one in the back of the net. It was cool.”

MCBEAN: “It definitely makes it a lot more fun. You know the guys before they’re on the team but this is my third year so I know everyone pretty well. Been with most of the guys for over two years now and comfortable with all of them.”

(On going from AYSO to playing with Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane…)

MCBEAN: “It’s pretty crazy to think about. [Back when I was a kid], I would always watch for those guys on the weekend. Especially Robbie, playing for Leeds and Tottenham and all those EPL teams so it’s pretty weird to think about but it’s pretty cool.”

CARSON, Calif. – Back after a knee infection caused him to miss two training sessions and a reserve match, Kofi Opare is eager to fill the starting spot vacated by Omar Gonzalez, who is currently away on international duty.

Opare has become a regular on LA’s game day roster since the start of August and performed well during his first competitive start for the club in their 3-0 victory over C.S. Cartaginés earlier this month. However, Opare was unable to get in the squad in LA’s 3-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes and the subsequent reserve match due to a knee infection called cellulitis.

Even though the injury cost him a reserve league appearance, Opare believes that it didn’t hurt his sharpness.

“I’m just glad to be back in training,” said Opare. “The good thing was that even with the injury, I was still able to run and even though I wasn’t in training, I was still able to do fitness work and keep my sharpness.”

It’s vitally important that Opare is fit and ready because with Gonzalez away on international duty, the 22-year-old is in the midst of a battle for a starting role with the likes of Tommy Meyer, A.J. DeLaGarza, and possibly even Pablo Mastroeni.

“With Omar gone, the center back is spot and players are competing for that spot. I’m trying to do that same thing so that I can impress the coaches so I get that spot,” said Opare. “To be honest, I still go through the same steps that I do every week. I just want to come in with the attitude to work hard and play well in practice. Nothing changes. Now there is a spot and we’re all competing, I just want to bring the same attitude.”

The highly anticipated World Cup qualifier between the U.S. and Mexico will take place in less than a week at Columbus Crew Stadium, but the U.S. women got the party started early a they put a beat down on their Mexican counterparts 7-0 in a friendly at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Sydney Leroux led the way with four goals while Abby Wambach, Rachel Buehler and Morgan Brian also scored.

CARSON, Calif. – As soon as the final whistle sounded on Saturday’s 3-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo was already thinking about meeting up with Panama ahead of their vital World Cup qualifier with Jamaica.

Los Canaleros are currently in fifth in the Hexagonal just a point behind Honduras for a spot in a playoff against Oceania champions New Zealand and two points behind Mexico for CONCACAF’s final automatic qualifying berth. It is very possible that Panama’s next to matches may decide their fate as they host Jamaica on Sept. 6 in Panama City before traveling to Tegucigalpa to take on Honduras five days later.

“First off, we can’t give away points at home. We have to continue to get points at home,” said Penedo of the game against Jamaica. “That’s a big game for us because it’s the dream of our nation [to qualify for the World Cup].”

Although the challenge is a tough one, Penedo is confident that Los Canaleros can get the results needed to put them in contention for the nation’s first ever World Cup berth.

"Right now, for these two games, we should try to get the full six points to put us in position to qualify,” said Penedo. “To be honest, I think that we have the group, the mentality and the confidence to accomplish that goal."

CARSON, Calif. – After helping the LA Galaxy go undefeated in their last five games in all competitions, captain Robbie Keane will now devote his full efforts to helping Ireland qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The Irish face a pair of decisive games during this international period as they face Sweden in Dublin on Sept. 6 and Austria in Vienna on Sept 10. Currently, Ireland are in fourth place in Group C tied on 11 points with with second place Austria and third place Sweden due to goal difference. Six points from these two matches could put Keane's squad in contention for a spot in UEFA’s playoffs as Germany is expected to win the group as they currently top the group with 16 points.

“These games are the make or break for us,” said Keane. “It’s important that we hopefully get six points. It’s going to be tough, but we certainly can’t afford to lose the games.”

Ireland head coach Giovanni Trapattoni couldn’t ask for his captain to be returning to the national team in better form as Keane has scored seven goals and two assists in his last five games with the Galaxy and joins the Irish full of confidence.

“It’s good. It’s a completely scenario, once I leave [the Galaxy] then I’m 100 percent focused on the national team,” Keane said following Saturdays’ 3-0 victory where he scored two goals in LA’s win. “I’m looking forward to meeting up with the lads and putting on that green jersey again.”

Wright made 20 appearances for the Galaxy Under-16’s last season and finished in third in scoring with seven goals. The fall semester marks the start of preparations for the qualifying cycle for the 2015 Under-17 World Cup in Chile. A total of eight players selected by U-17 head coach Richie Williams heading to residency are California natives, which is the most of any state -- six of which are from Southern California.

Also named to the roster is Wright's Academy teammate Abraham Romero, who made 11 appearances last season while playing for LA's U-16 and U-18 squads. Romero was listed by U.S. Soccer as a member of FC Golden State, but is registered under with the Galaxy for the upcoming Development Academy season according to Galaxy Academy Director Peter Vagenas.

For the second time in three weeks, LA Galaxy forward Robbie Keane has been named Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters.

Keane earned the honors after scoring two goals and tallying one assist in LA’s 3-0 romp over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday. The honor is Keane’s second Player of the Week award of the season and the fourth for a member of the Galaxy. The Irishman will be unavailable this week for the club's match against the Colorado Rapids due to international duty.

Although his team remains undefeated in their last six matches, reserve team head coach Curt Onalfo was disappointed with his team's showing.

“It’s a game where we should have won the game. We had a majority of the possession, a majority of the chances and we were unable to get through," said Onalfo. "There were a lot of good things. I think that we battled really hard, we worked for each other and except for one moment where they hit the post, we didn’t give much away. In a game when you stake our six or seven good chances to their one, you should walk away winning the game. In my mind, we lost two points and it puts the onus on us for the last two reserve games to get the points that we need to win the reserve league."

The Galaxy reserves return to action next Sunday against the Colorado Rapids.